It was a little over a week into the school year, Tuesday morning. The students were just starting to really readjust and get into the swing of studying again. It was a beautiful late-August morning, not cold yet, and not raining, as it often did in London.
It was a perfect day, Jocelyn thought, to visit Jasperstone Academy.
She woke up early as she usually did, before Clarissa awoke to get ready for school. Other than her son, no one in the house was ever up earlier than she was, not even the maids, or the butler. Oh, how she wished that Henry would get more sleep once in a while. But there was no convincing a workaholic like him.
She got out of bed and opened her bedroom shutters, letting the sunshine pour in. She looked out for a few moments at the beautiful courtyard before donning her robe and heading down for her tea, which she had every morning with an English muffin. Passing by the bedroom next to hers, she heard Glynnis snoring, and looked in to see her entire body spread out across the bed. Amusing.
The next room down was Clarissa's. That room emanated the overpowering smell of Clarissa's perfume, which she often liked to spray everywhere. Jocelyn put her hand over her nose - she was prone to perfume headaches.
The next room was where Clarissa's grandfather, Alistair, slept. He had a love for keeping doors and windows constantly closed, to give him a darker, stuffier environment. To each his own, Jocelyn supposed.
Then, a little further down the hallway, she came to Henry's office. That door, too, was closed. But Jocelyn could see bright light shining from underneath. She smiled. He was working now, but in about two hours, he would be downstairs, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Today, however, she would be gone by then. She'd leave him a note.
Her tea and muffin were both delicious as usual. Now she was back in her bedroom, in front of the mirror. Decked in a pastel blue-colored dress suit with white heels, she worked the clasp on the back of a long strand of pearls that hung around her neck. It matched her dainty pearl studs, and Jocelyn was satisfied with the outfit. She finished off with a bit of lipstick and blush, and a cream-colored hat with a blue silk flower.
She then headed back down to write her note. By this time, Clarissa was downstairs as well, dressed in her Jasperstone uniform and reeking of perfume.
"Good morning, Clarissa." she said warmly.
"What happened to all the sugar?" Clarissa immediately
demanded. "There's not enough left to put in my tea."
Jocelyn thought for a moment.
"Well, we must have used it all. We'll just have to get some more."
"Mary should have refilled it a long time ago. Incompetence. Sheer incompetence."
Jocelyn sighed, and sat down to write.
"I'm going with you to school today." she told the sugar deprived girl.
"Fine, fine, just fine." Clarissa said vaguely.
A half hour later, the two of them were seated in the back of a shiny black luxury car. As they always did on Jocelyn's visits, they had left about twenty minutes early, to arrive before most everyone else. They both entered the school, where they were immediately met by one of the administrators.
"Mrs. Dashwood! What a surprise!"
The pair was immediately taken to the teachers' lounge, where they were given scones, and tea with plenty of sugar in it.
A short time later, it was time for Clarissa to go to class. A while later, Jocelyn would start her tour. She would be led by another administrator through some of the classes, and then she'd walk with Clarissa at lunch.
But for now, she'd just sit here sipping tea. No hurry, no hurry at all.
"She did WHAT?!" Faye exclaimed.
"She stuck bubble gum in my gym shoes." Meghan replied. "Or, well, she had someone else do it."
"Oh, how dreadful!" Bridget cried.
"It wasn't that bad. I just had a little trouble getting my feet out of them without my socks coming off. They were really stuck. I still don't know how somebody keeps breaking into my locker."
Thankfully, Meghan had been able to acquire the twenty-five pounds from Emma, who had been very understanding and generous. Emma had also known just how to get the molasses out of Meghan's skirt.
"Secret recipe from the old country." she had said of the special stain-removing mixture she had used.
Now, Meghan wondered if Emma would be able to get the gum out of her gym shoes, which she now had in her book bag. Her PE clothes were in there as well - she wasn't taking the risk of leaving them in her locker again. At least, not until she was able to prove that it was being broken into.
"I've decided." Emily said, as she took a bite of peas. "We have to get her. Somehow, we're going to do it. We just have to come up with a plan..."
"Speak of the devil." Samantha said, looking up. "There she is now - and Lady Dashwood's with her!"
Meghan froze. Faye and the others turned to look.
"Oh, my, she is! And what a lovely hat!" Faye swooned.
"I'm partial to her shoes." Bridget commented.
A few feet away...
"So there you have it, Grammy-dear." Clarissa said, more to her cluster of friends that followed than to Jocelyn herself. "Everyone eating lunch at our lovely school."
No one saw it, but Jocelyn almost rolled her eyes. Clarissa was acting artificial, which is what she usually did in public. But if Jocelyn had rolled her eyes, they might not have caught sight of a girl with wavy hair, quietly eating a short distance away. She saw four other girls surrounding her, one being Asian, quickly turn away when she caught them looking. When one girl in braids carefully stole another glance and realized that she wasn't the one being looked at, she fixed her gaze back on Jocelyn.
"Clarissa." the woman said, "Who is that girl, over there?"
Clarissa tore herself away from her friends for a moment.
"What girl?"
"That one." She pointed to Meghan.
Clarissa scowled.
"Oh, that's just the mindless American exchange student who slammed into me on the first day of school." she said, disgusted.
Jocelyn kept looking.
Back at the lunch table...
"Meghan, do you know that Lady Dashwood is staring right at you?" Faye quipped.
Meghan looked up for a second.
"Well," she answered, "I know now."
She went back to her food.
"Faye's right." Samantha said. "She's just fixated on your face."
"Yeah, well, that's nice."
Again, the group was stunned.
"Aren't...aren't you going to go and speak to her?!" Faye wanted to know."
"Why?"
"Because...because she's Jocelyn Dashwood!"
"Oh. That's nice."
Faye just sat there, speechless.
"Why are you staring at her?" Clarissa questioned. "She crashed into me. She's nothing but rude and inconsiderate. Forget about her."
Funny, I seem to know of someone else who is rude and inconsiderate. Jocelyn thought.
"Why don't you call her over here? I'd like to speak with her."
Clarissa eyes grew as huge as microwave burritos.
"What?! Her?! You want to speak with her?!"
"Yes. So, if you please."
"REYNOLDS!!!"
Begrudgingly, Meghan raised her head and looked in Clarissa's direction.
"Get over here!"
Reynolds...
"Clarissa, you could be a little more polite."
"Why? If you want me to converse with an American, then I'll act like one, too."
"I told you. I told you she wanted to talk to you." Faye said, excitedly.
"Or maybe, perhaps, I'm just going to get another round of insults from the blonde witch. What, Faye, do you think is more likely?" Meghan asked, as she pushed herself up and turned to walk. She had to poke at the genius - it was all that kept her from having a nervous breakdown.
Meghan walked straight as a rod, one decided step in front of another. She made herself smile brightly. Then, everything became very, very slow. Scowling Clarissa disappeared, taking the rest of the world with it as Meghan's eyes met Jocelyn's. She edged closer in a daze. Here...here things could drastically change.
"WATCH OUT!!!!!" she heard, from a familiar perky blonde.
"No, Marcelle, not now!!!" she heard another blonde hiss frantically.
In the course of a lengthy second, Meghan turned her head the slightest bit, and her smile faded, and she drew in the tiniest breath, before something flew through the air, anticipating Meghan as its landing point...
Splash
Meghan woke up from her daze, soaked in a bright red liquid. She sputtered and coughed, and drew up her hand to pull wet hair from her face.
Normally, this would be the part where everyone in the immediate vicinity would break into uproarious laughter. Now, however, the only person laughing was the prank's instigator, Marcelle, who had apparently been dropped on her head as a child. Everyone else was dead silent.
In a few seconds, the dense one finally caught on to what she had done. With Lady Dashwood and everyone else staring at her, Marcelle quickly turned to Clarissa.
"But you told me! You told me to throw the punch on her as soon as she left the table!" she whined.
Everyone's gaze turned on Clarissa. Quickly, she folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." she stated with arrogance. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing?"
Marcelle was quickly taken away by yet another staff member, all the while shouting, "But Clarissa told me to! It was her idea!"
With that, everyone now turned to Meghan, waiting for her reaction.
Meghan just stood there for a moment, shivering, not sure what to say. Finally, she looked Lady Dashwood in the face once again."
"Excuse me." she said simply, before turning in the direction of the ladies' room and plodding away, shoes making squishy noises as she went.
It was the second time Jocelyn had seen that girl turn and walk away.
There you have it! It was Jocelyn who saw Meghan that day in the crowd. Free Coco Puffs for everyone anyway though - you deserve it!
Next two chapters will be up this Saturday! Look for them:)
-rf-